Longest Traffic jam

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The world's longest traffic jam took place in Beijing, China. It was over 60 miles long and lasted 11 days

Art of Books

Nike Golf: No Cup Is Safe

The Sun

Milky way scientists

Sun Primer : Why NASA Scientists Observe the Sun in Different Wavelengths

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/light-wavelengths.html

Taking a photo of the sun with a standard camera will provide a familiar image: a yellowish, featureless disk, perhaps colored a bit more red when near the horizon since the light must travel through more of Earth's atmosphere and consequently loses blue wavelengths before getting to the camera's lens. The sun, in fact, emits light in all colors, but since yellow is the brightest wavelength from the sun, that is the color we see with our naked eye -- which the camera represents, since one should never look directly at the sun. When all the visible colors are summed together, scientists call this “white light.”

Specialized instruments, either in ground-based or space-based telescopes, however, can observe light far beyond the ranges visible to the naked eye. Different wavelengths convey information about different components of the sun's surface and atmosphere, so scientists use them to paint a full picture of our constantly changing and varying star.

Yellow light of 5800 Angstroms, for example, generally emanates from material of about 10,000 degrees F (5700 degrees C), which represents the surface of the sun. Extreme ultraviolet light of 94 Angstroms, on the other hand, comes from atoms that are about 11 million degrees F (6,300,000 degrees C) and is a good wavelength for looking at solar flares, which can reach such high temperatures. By examining pictures of the sun in a variety of wavelengths – as is done through such telescopes as NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) -- scientists can track how particles and heat move through the sun's atmosphere.

This collage of solar images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows how observations of the sun in different wavelengths helps highlight different aspects of the sun's surface and atmosphere. (The collage also includes images from other SDO instruments that display magnetic and Doppler information.)

[Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard Space Flight Center]

Movies 2013

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Dakar day2

Kaapse Klopse Minstrel Carnival

TWEEDE NUWE DJAAR !

The Kaapse Klopse (or simply Klopse) is a minstrel festival that takes place annually on 2 January, in Cape Town, South Africa. As many as 13,000 minstrels take to the streets garbed in bright colours, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are grouped into klopse ("clubs" in Cape Dutch, but more accurately translated as troupes in English). Participants are typically from Afrikaans-speaking working class "coloured" families who have preserved the custom since the mid-19th century.

Although it is called the Coon Carnival by Capetonians, local authorities have renamed the festival the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival as foreign tourists find the term "coon" derogatory.
History

One story goes that the carnival was inspired by a group of African-American minstrels who docked in Cape Town in the late 1800s and entertained the sailors with their spontaneous musical performances. The popular song "Daar kom die Alibama" (There comes the Alabama) refers to the ship that is believed to have brought them.

Another story goes that the travelling minstrels were actually white and painted their faces black – hence the painted faces seen today.

The majority of the troupes (169) are represented by the Kaapse Klopse Karnaval Association which is one of the break away Associations from the Kaapse Karnaval ("Cape Carnival") Association. In addition,the other break away organisation,the Mitchell's Plain Youth Development Minstrel Board represent a minority of troupes.

The carnival today
The festival begins on New Year's Day and continues into January. Festivities include street parades with singing and dancing, costume competitions and marches through the streets. While many troupes now are supported by corporate sponsors, many refuse and remain sticklers for tradition. The 2005 carnival was nearly cancelled due to an alleged lack of funding, while the 2006 carnival was officially called off for the same reason.
However, the troupe organisations subsequently decided to go ahead with the parade despite continued unhappiness over funding, and the festivities were opened by Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool on 2 January 2006.